The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life

Justin Carter's violent threat on Facebook lands him in jail, and limbo.

Approximately one hour after Justin Carter posted a sarcastic comment on a Facebook thread, his life began to ­unravel.

The first reaction occurred behind the scenes, in another country. The 18-year-old Carter had no way of knowing that, while he did grunt work at a drapery shop in San Antonio, a person in Canada saw his comments — posted 60 days after the Sandy Hook school-shooting tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut — freaked out and initiated a 24-hour chain reaction of insanity that would wind up with Carter facing 10 years in prison.

Carter's comments were part of a duel between dorks, and may have had something to do with a game with strong dork appeal called League of Legends. But the actual details and context of the online exchange are, in the eyes of Texas authorities, unimportant. Prosecutors say they don't have the entire thread — instead, they have three comments on a cell-phone screenshot.

Prosecutors have failed to produce the entire thread containing Carter’s alleged threat, according to his attorney, Don Flanary.

Josh Huskin

Attorney Don Flanary of San Antonio says Justin Carter was coerced into confessing something that wasn’t even a crime.

One of the comments appears to be a response to an earlier comment in which someone called Carter crazy. Carter's retort was: "I'm fucked in the head alright, I think I'ma SHOOT UP A KINDERGARTEN [sic]."

Carter followed with "AND WATCH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT RAIN DOWN."

When a person writing under the profile name "Hannah Love" responded with "i hope you [burn] in hell you fucking prick," Carter put the cherry on top: "AND EAT THE BEATING HEART OF ONE OF THEM." (The Austin police officer who wrote up the subsequent report noted: "all caps to emphasize his anger or rage." )

That's when someone in Canada — an individual as yet unidentified in court records — notified local authorities. Because Carter's profile listed him as living in Austin, the Canadians sent the tip to the Austin Police Department. Along with a cell-phone screenshot of part of the thread and a link to Carter's Facebook page, the tipster provided this narrative: "This man, Justin Carter, made a number of threats on Facebook to shoot up a class of kindergartners. ... He also made numerous comments telling people to go shoot themselves in the face and drink bleach. The threats to shoot the children were made approximately an hour ago."

The information was forwarded to the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, an information clearinghouse for law enforcement agencies in Travis, Hays and Williams counties.

Center personnel ran Carter's name, found either a driver's license or a state ID card and discovered that the address listed was "within 100 yards" of Wooldridge Elementary School. Based on a Travis County prosecutor's belief that there was probable cause to charge Carter with a third-degree terroristic threat — which carries a penalty of two to 10 years — a judge issued an arrest warrant. U.S. marshals traced Carter to the drapery shop in San Antonio, where he worked, and handcuffed the cherub-faced, brown-haired teen. Until that point, his only brush with the law was a temporary restraining order two years earlier.

After his booking into the Bexar County Jail, authorities discovered that he actually lived in New Braunfels — Comal County. After his transfer there, his bond was increased from $250,000 to half a million dollars.

According to Carter's attorney, Don Flanary, the 18-year-old suffered brutal attacks in the Comal County Jail during the four months he was held there.

Police records allege that, upon being booked into Bexar County Jail, Carter stated, "I guess what you post on Facebook matters."

He had no idea.

When officers searched Carter's home, Flanary says, they did not find the hallmarks of a lunatic.

"They found no guns in his house," Flanary says from his San Antonio office. "They found no bomb-making materials." He follows this up with a dash of sarcasm that's not a far stretch from the rhetorical flourishes that put his client in peril: "They didn't find The Anarchist Cookbook. ... They didn't find, you know, a bunch of newspaper clippings on the wall — conspiracy theories, with yarn from one place to another. They didn't find pentagrams and candles. He wasn't listening to Judas Priest."

Flanary's explanation for this is simple: His client is not a nut. But Flanary can't say the same for the jam his client's in. "This whole thing is totally and completely bonkers."

In the absence of any other evidence mentioned in Comal County prosecutor Laura Bates' filings, it's hard to disagree. Despite repeated calls, the Houston Press was unable to speak with Bates or anyone else in the Comal County District Attorney's Office — a receptionist told us that the only person authorized to speak to the media was District Attorney Jennifer Tharp herself, and she was unavailable.

One of the most striking things about the evidence so far tendered by the state is what's missing: the entire thread — which wasn't on Carter's Facebook page — containing the damning comments.

"The state tells us Facebook didn't give it to them," Flanary says. He's unsuccessfully tried to find "Hannah Love," the only other profile included in the cell-phone screenshot; at this point, it's still unclear whether "Hannah Love" is the anonymous Canadian tipster.

Flanary believes it's paramount that if someone is criminally charged on the basis of his words, a jury needs to see all the words. In this case, that includes whatever comment precipitated Carter's hyperbolic rant.

This is all about men's alleged right not to be have their threats taken at face value.

I don't have to look very far to imagine what similarly moving story the Dallas Observer would have written if Hannah's warning had not been heeded and Carter had indeed gone and shot up a school -- as young alienated self-centered white males with a "dark streak" tend to do.

Thats terribly wrong what he has said, but can someone please explain to me why this youngster is being prosecuted for posting something so hate full on social media, the new black panther can stand out in public and talk about killing white people/crackas and their babies is being overlooked and not considered a act of terrorism or racial hate. Kill the Crackers, Kill them all: http://youtu.be/DDb2byj74oY

@miasosa_1979 The answer is simple but in truth may not make much sense. The young man made a direct threat to shoot a specific target where as the Black Panther made threats that were a bit vague and as silly as it may seem, are protected under the "Bill of Right" as sick as that may seem. He was careful not to cross the LEGAL THRESHOLD of what would constitute a Terrorist threat. I don't agree with the premise I'm just explaining what it the unfortunate reality.

@quenificent@miasosa_1979 - the Bill of Rights is anything but sick, it's a perfect protection of our rights given by God. Free speech is a two way street and that's the most wonderful thing about it. You can say anything you wish to say against anyone or anything. The 1st amendment is a great way for people to also figure out there are consequences to the things that come out of your mouth so be prepared to accept them and pay them when you mouth off too much. One day, when you no longer have this Bill of Rights, you will see the error of your judgement of them but then it will be too late and your head will be gone. ;-) Protecting that Bill of Rights is extremely important.

@miasosa_1979 The answer is simple but in truth may not make much sense. The young man made a direct threat to shoot a specific target where as the Black Panther made threats that were a bit vague and as silly as it may seem, are protected under the "Bill of Right" as sick as that may seem. He was careful not to cross the LEGAL THRESHOLD of what would constitute a Terrorist threat. I don't agree with the premise I'm just explaining what it the unfortunate reality

@miasosa_1979 what does THIS have to do with Justin?? You've basically said; we should not be worried about white kids who make death threats but rather we should focus on the scary black man. The two men said the SAME THING you racist bitch. Seriously. I had a bit of sympathy for the kid until you came here with god knows what type of mental gymnastics and post something about an alleged "black panther" to absolve the white kid of his failings. GTFOH.

"According to the current state of law, freedom of speech does not protect the following: Speech that contains "fighting words" (insulting or abusive language that is likely to cause "an immediate violent response"); Obscenities; Language or communication directed to inciting, producing or urging the commission of a crime; Defamation - words or communication that are false and untrue and are intended to injure the character and reputation of another person; Abusive, obscene or harassing telephone calls; Loud speech and loud noise meant by volume to disturb others or to create a clear and present danger of violence."

"According to the current state of law, freedom of speech does not protect the following: Speech that contains "fighting words" (insulting or abusive language that is likely to cause "an immediate violent response"); Obscenities; Language or communication directed to inciting, producing or urging the commission of a crime; Defamation - words or communication that are false and untrue and are intended to injure the character and reputation of another person; Abusive, obscene or harassing telephone calls; Loud speech and loud noise meant by volume to disturb others or to create a clear and present danger of violence."

What we have now is some prosecutor who is dumber than a box of dirt and willing to go to take any moral detour to avoid owning up to his mistake. Prosecutors will kill people to avoid admitting a mistake.

I can assure you the prosecutor knows EXACTLY what they're doing, and they know it's wrong. They just don't care, because the only thing prosecutors care about is locking up as many people as possible for as long as possible.

You think a District Attorney gets themselves reelected by bragging about all the people they set free? You think that flies in TEXAS? We're talking about a state where the Governor intentionally let an innocent man be executed for a crime that NEVER EVEN HAPPENED and then blamed the resulting controversy on Jews.

This isn't just the local police this is the NSA and the architecture of oppression that is being built and rammed down the throats of the American people. We are currently living in a Stasi like tyranny and the worst and most visible cases of this going on are happening right now in the state of Texas.

the government is using stories like this to take away our freedoms... and everyone is supporting it, purchasing stock in it, and raising a family in it. pretty soon theyre gonna take up a third mortgage on bullshit. and theyll get taxed too.

@nonojoeyno The government is not taking away your freedoms. What the government is doing is protecting itself from whack jobs that might repeat the types of activity we're seeing today - extreme violence in public places. This young man unfortunately decided to use free speech in a manner akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) SCOTUS overturned a the 1917 Schenck case that allowed a man to shout "fire" in a crowded theater. Opining harm to school children without other corroborating intent creates the case which will now ebb its way through the court. The question is whether Brandenburg holds in the instant case. Were the young man's First Amendment Rights usurped by the states reasonable attempts to protect the lives of the innocent? When I was a child you could say what you wished to a child and anything else was considered simply bad manners or something to be settled between parent and child or parent and parent. I am personally aware of a case where a young man called a girl a "hure" - he had no idea what a whore was albeit his middle school age. The girls had been egging he and his friends on - they had said far worse to them - yet the young man ended up with a black mark on his otherwise pristine record. This eighteen year old faces far more serious consequences largely because someone used the law - and convinced local authorities to do the same - to get back at him. He is not innocent in this venture. He said angry, unintended things that could be perceived as "terroristic" in nature. I loath the modern term terrorism because I think the use of the term is dangerous and imprecise. Social media allow expression of free speech in a manner different then the Founders could have envisioned. The immediacy coupled with bad manners allows people to say and do things that are extremely unhealthy for our society.

@msbcez@dfwenigma@nonojoeyno Hey your analysis and response is ...well lacking. But that's OK one liners work well - on CNN and especially Fox News - so people are well attuned to your views. Heaven forbid we engage in any kind of discourse. And heaven forbid you actually spend two minutes of time to do what I did - think - and research and then write. I know it's too much work - and it doesn't sound as cute either does it?

@dfwenigma , You, my not friend, are obviously a paid government employee. When did the young man have his psych eval? He obviously has mental issues but I think help would do more then prison. By your logic everyone that can be seen as any kind of threat should be locked away. Your "research" has nothing to do with this case, it's not even similar and it , in all honesty, makes you look like a scared ignorant idiot. You nor the justice system has the full conversation, plus the fact that he did "LOL, J/K" ... Maybe a police state were people who disagree with the mainstream is perfect for you, but I prefer to live in a FREE country where even if comments are stupid (just look at KKK and white power skin heads, they can and do talk about stuff worse than this kid did and are free) you wont be arrested and imprisoned. If he had specifically said I'm going to X school in X days then that would have been different. His comments were the same as video game trash talk, since that IS where it started ... I guess no one can talk trash anymore for fear the American Nazi machine.

It's not really imprecise. I happened to find the Texas statute regarding "Terroristic Threats", and it's very precise, but I'm having a hard time believing that whoever decided to prosecute this kid had actually read this. It's just as clear as mud that this doesn't apply.

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to
any person or property with intent to:

cause a reaction of any type to his threat[s] by an
official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;

place any person in fear of imminent serious
bodily injury;

prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a
building; room; place of assembly; place to which
the public has access; place of employment or occupation; aircraft, automobile,
or other form of conveyance; or other public place;

cause impairment or interruption of public
communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power
supply or other public service;

place the public or a substantial group of the
public in fear of serious bodily injury; or

influence the conduct or activities of a branch or
agency of the federal government, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state.

@dfwenigma@nonojoeyno - No, the government IS taking away our freedoms. The NSA and TSA, alone, are both violations of our 4th amendment and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The govt is supposed to protect our rights, not violate them. Might want to take a look at some of the executive orders (also illegal) being passed lately. HUGE violation of our rights and the constitution!

He didn't shoot up a school. He wasn't planning to shoot up a school. He didn't even have the MEANS to shoot up a school. He was NEVER going to shoot up a school, that was obvious to the police and prosecutors, and it's an act of utter insanity to prosecute him as if he was intending to do that. And you know it. You sound like a coward defending this prosecution. A real coward.

There's nothing wrong with INVESTIGATING when someone sends in a tip like "I don't know if he's serious but this guy said something about shooting up a school." But when the investigation turns up NO EVIDENCE of any plot to do that, you don't pile on charges against a teenager FOR SAYING SOMETHING STUPID ON THE INTERNET. If his only transgression was scaring people by saying something stupid without thinking first (something teenagers do all the time), you give him a slap on the wrist to make it clear to him that he must never ever ever do that again and you move on. You don't send some kid THAT WAS NEVER A THREAT TO ANYBODY away for ten years, or even two years. He's not a bad person, he just did something stupid and it doesn't serve the interests of society to lock him up.

You disgust me, hiding behind statutes and court rulings to justify something that you know is morally wrong. Just because the prosecutors technically have the authority to do this doesn't mean they should!

@dfwenigma@nonojoeyno Protection instead of abuse of power, would have been too put him into a mental institution for the obvious therapy he needs. Not a jail to be raped, and probably come out more resentful against society than he was to begin with. Way to be naive. But hey all the power words, and overly analytical droning on really made you sound intelligent so props!

When we see news of school shootings we all say, "Why did no one step in and do something about this clearly unhinged person before they went off the deep end?".

Now though, we're seeing a person who has made threats of violence and he also has several of the markers of past school shooters: He's clearly depressed, possibly bipolar, he's been bullied, he's an outcast, he's made threats before and had a restraining order taken out on him, he has suicidal ideations and he fantasises about being a hero and being loved.

The boy doesn't need to be in jail, he needs help from a mental health professional to cope with the depression or whatever mental illness he's suffering from.

"...he's made threats before and had a restraining order taken out on him..." - "The big red flag is his reference to a temporary restraining order a high school ex-girlfriend obtained against him in October 2011."

"...he has suicidal ideations..." - "In April he wrote, "Suicide. Yea. Im thinking about it, wish I had bigger balls. Id fucking kill my self RIGHT NOW, but no im a pussy I hate my self [sic]." This was followed a day later with "kill self," which drew concern from his mother."

"...he fantasises about being a hero and being loved..." - "...and wrote a zombie-apocalypse story in which he alternately protects "New Austin" from the cannibalistic walking dead and gets laid like a champ..."

The only thing that may be a stretch is the "bipolar" statement. Given the evidence that has been given only by this article, I think that @jaded.maggi is completely within bounds to comment (on this article) his opinions, and that he indeed does (unlike you) know what he's talking about.

And, if you'd read the article you'd know this, the reason for the restraining order was in fact given: "The big red flag is his reference to a temporary restraining order a high school ex-girlfriend obtained against him in October 2011. The ex, who asked not to be named, says that when she told him she wanted to end things after two weeks with him, Carter's behavior scared her. She says he talked about hurting himself — and her. "At first I thought he was just playing," she says. "I blew it off." But then, she says, "He started threatening me, saying that he would kill me. ... I told the school officers, [and] they started watching him really closely. He would say that he would shoot up the school." She also accused him of stalking her."

As well, your claim of "The kid broke no laws" is completely invalid as well. A terroristic threat is defined as a declaration of intent to commit a crime of violence against another with the intent of threatening a person, building, facility, or public or private habitat. I'd say "I think I'ma SHOOT UP A KINDERGARTEN" falls under that definition, wouldn't you?

I highly suggest that before telling somebody they have no idea what they're talking about, you read the entire context that is provided. You make yourself look particularly ignorant when you don't.

@jaded.maggi The comments you've made suggest that you are personally involved with this story. Do you know this kid personally? "He's clearly depressed, possibly bipolar, he's been bullied, he's an outcast, he's made threats before and had a restraining order taken out on him, he has suicidal ideations and he fantasises about being a hero and being loved." Those are a great deal of assertions without any proof what so ever. This article stated nothing about any of that with the exception of having a restraining order two years prior, and it does not state what the order was for. This kid broke no laws. He did not display any actions that would be considered out of the ordinary for any teenager. His statement was meant to provoke an shock and awe reaction as indicated by the verbiage used. I am a psychologist with a several degrees from a Major D-I University and sir you have no idea what you are talking about.

(a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to
any person or property with intent to:

cause a reaction of any type to his threat[s] by an
official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;

place any person in fear of imminent serious
bodily injury;

prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a
building; room; place of assembly; place to which
the public has access; place of employment or occupation; aircraft, automobile,
or other form of conveyance; or other public place;

cause impairment or interruption of public
communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power
supply or other public service;

place the public or a substantial group of the
public in fear of serious bodily injury; or

influence the conduct or activities of a branch or
agency of the federal government, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state.

Remember Stanley Marcus and his dumber-than-a-box-of-rocks bit about "Upee", his friend from Mars? I met Stanley Marcus: A heck of a nice man. He had the best smile ever--as did Maya Angelou, although when I met her in the basement (I used to keep "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", her wonderful poetry collection behind my desk at the Dallas Public Library and would read one poem a day to get started with a little inspiration), but then of course is the weapons manufacturing industry and the contempt of the South's white supremacist spoiled baby makers.

So sorry they had to go "on manipulate" the way they have.

I will remain happy, but I do hope someone does get hung for what has happened.

This is about the stupidest thing I've heard. We have now officially gone off the deep end in overreacting to what people rant on the internet. We need a serious attitude adjustment with regard to separating words from actions. This is not screaming "Fire" in a crowded theater or actually threatening to do bodily harm. This is howling at the moon and damning all the things that frustrate you. If you have not done that at some point in your life, you are officially dead.

This act breaches the point of having "Thought Police" and criminalizing fantasy and free speech and goes way past "1984" and "Minority Report". Let this kid out. We have done him a grave injustice and any Public Prosecutor who does anything but release him without prejudice is abusing their position and should be removed from office. Or alternatively. maybe blown up and fed to wolves...

Let's see what reaction that gets. Awooooooooo!

Stupid people in positions of authority are becoming way too common. Let's try a little common sense for a change.

Watch and learn: This kid has pissed off some people, and they are gunning for him.

TERRORISTIC THREAT. (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to;

Define Intent: the thing that you plan to do or achieve : an aim or purpose.

There was no intent, therefore no crime. This is clearly a 1st amendment violation. Anything else is arguable. This case lacks in evidence and lack in intent.
It is futile to try to prove anything else or that there was intent to hurt anyone. So
let the kid go, and let Ronald Miller from Celina go as well.

The only evidence in this case is a facebook message and
nothing else.

I learned a long time ago that jokes, particularly the ones of particularly poor taste, do not translate well when typed out. Sounds like this kid is paying the ultimate price for having a fucked up sense of humor. If anything, this kid is only guilty of not understanding his audience.

Reading Texas penal code 22.7, it's obvious that in order to qualify for anything, Justin's threat should have been specific, he had to intend to cause panic, fear, evacuation etc. of that specific school. The small article "a" he used in his sentence, such as in "a school" ruins all that completely. Without naming the specific target, it can't be terrorist threat. The conclusion that "a school" must be the school he lives closest to, should be laughed out in any sane court.

But even if he named _the_ specific school, which he did not, he had to make that threat known to the people related to that school, in order to cause the actions specified in the law. He did not.

Does he have a criminal record or a violent history? No he doesn't. Maybe he was feeling depressed at the time. He is a victim here and the people responsible for his hardship will pay. Karma will eat your souls. Buddha would be on his side at this time. Free Mr. Carter or else you will pay. Karma is coming for everyone involved.

He is a poor nobody working at a drapery store. If his name was Suckerberg or Bieber or Lohan he could say and do anything and never be touched.

This is how our corrupt system of injustice now works, where the serfs have become fodder for prosecutors and private prisons while the elites do what they want, steal trillions and laugh all the way to the bank.